Flexible band brake



/Nve/v fara June 27, 1933. r w` Q wlLsQN FLEXIBLE BAND BRAKE Filed Feb. 10, 195o s sheets-sheet 1 p A. f il! m *l w. G. wlLs'oN FLEXIBLE BAND BRAKE June 27, 1933.

Filed Feb. l0, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 anew June 27, 1933. w, G. wlLsN FLEXIBLE BAND BRAKE Filed Feb. 1Q, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVEN TOR. W G. Wilson BY 777W@ M@ ATToRNEYs.

.5 ti'on of .my

Patented June 27, 1933- UNIT!) vSTATias vPn'rENT orifice WALTERl GonnoNfWrLsonor wEsrMINsrnnLonnoN, ENGLAND FLEXIBLE BAND BRAKE Appilcanorr fried February 1o, 193e, serial N. 427,308, ,and infer'eat Britain February 12, 1929.

vThis-invention relates to braking" mechanism for self propelledvehicles, `andfmore particularly to flexible bandbrakeme'chanism of the kind described in the specica- U. S. Patent No. 1,714,833, dated April ear, 1923.; f i

Such a flexiblebrake, which is suitable amongst other `usesyfor the reaction drums of an epicyclio driving gear, comprises a primary brake band, within which is arranged a pair of secondary brake bands, sideby side and one of which maybe integral with the primary band. y

The commencing end offpone .band is displaced 1809 from the other. T wo points of anchorage for such secondary'bands are pro;4 vided for such'a braking system onrelatively oppositesides-of'the diameterof'the rotatlever system,

- ing element whose speed is togbe controlledh The anchoragefor the primary band and thus ofone ofthe secondary bands, comprises a hook formed on therend of the band, vSuch hook is connected by a link toI the fixed frame to constitute an anchorage :and thefree end of the primary band is pivotedto a toggle and the -b'raking'effortis applied by tightening the free end of the primary element over the secondary band or bands aroundthe drum through the toggle action. The anchorage for the other secondary band comprises. a lug fixed, on the end thereof'and extending radially through a slot in the primary band'wh-ere it `is connected byk a link to the fixed frame.

. system to such Such a braking system is known as a lapping brake by means of the fact that the braking action is obtainedv by winding or a lapping Vboth the primary and secondary bands on the brake drum, inthe directionof rotationjof the latter. A i

A braking system as eficient for one when it is applied to an epicyclic driving system, comprising a number of groups for speed ahead and reverse, the reaction inember of the latter group will rotate in a rection vopposite to that of the others.v Iny order therefore, to apply the above braking reverse gear it would be necessary toarrange the actuation gear andthe above rdescribed is having. the vcontrols for thereversespeed groups"y onv the opposite side of the reaction drums to those ofthe forward speed groups, andl for this reason, would be, both fromV a practical and vcommercial point of view, totally unsatisfactory. l y v One obj ect of the present invention is to so adapt a braking system of the kind described in the specification of the above patent,.that it will act as a lapping brake, for the reverse or counter-clockwise direction of the reaction drum, and at the same time .will permit of its ,controlv gear beingpositioned on the. same side of the brake drum as those of the forward speed groups. f

A further object of the invention is such anadaptation of a braking system as ein.` bodied in the above patent, that an effective lap braking actionfmaybe produced'whether" the brake drum is'rotating in one direction or the other.

r The kinvention consists in a fiexible'vband '7 brake system adaptedfto control a number The invention vwill now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a general side elevation of a lapping brake for counter-'clockwise rotation of the brake drum, constructed `according to the .invention and shown in the on position, 9 with the offpos1t1on shown indotted lines.

Figure Zageneral sideelevation of a lapping brake for both clockwise and counterclockwise rotationV constructed vaccording to the invention `and .shown in the off position with the on position in dotted lines.

Figure 3 an end elevation, in thedirection of. arrows A'-A.

Figure 4 an end elevation in the opposite direction. 1

Y into 'effect so as to attain the iirst object hereinbefore referred to, and in a systemaccording to which the actuating mechanism and the brake bands in the various groups are each arranged to provide a lapping brake for clockwise rotation of the drums in the manner described in my Patent No. 1,714,833, v.

and a lapping brake for the anti-clockwise rotation of the reversing drum having its actuating gear on" the same side of said reversing drum, as those of the clockwise rotating drums, the brake element for the reversing drum (see Figures l and 5) comprises al brake band a which extends around the brake drum and forms a secondary brake element. Superimposed upon the brake band a is la band brake b which Jforms the primary brake element and isso arranged as to contact across half its width with the brake drum thus constituting a direct brake. It is to be understood that although in the preerred arrangement of the brake element, only one secondary brake band is used, two such brake bands disposed side by side could be included, if necessary. Each band has its own brake lining of asbestos or other similar material, and is arranged so that its two ends are relatively near to one another, the respective ends of one band being displaced substantially 180 to' those of the other band, so asto be on opposite sides of the centre of, the drum,

One end ofthe primary brake band b is formed with a'block c pivotally connected at. d to a link c,the other end of which is firmly attached at 7 to the fixed casing, thus con# stituting the anchorage for the said band, the other end of which is left free. To the block c there is also pivoted at g a pull-rod 7L which forms the reaction member of a toggle lever system to be hereinafter described. The secondary brake band a is also anchored at one end to the fixed `casing by means of a lug i which extends radially through a slot j in the band .22, and is pivoted to a link 7c which in turn is pivotally connected to the casing, the other end of the b and being also left free.

The freeor actuated end of theprimary brake band b is provided with a separate segment Z, hooked or otherwise formed at one end m to constitute a point of application of the brake, such segment lying upon the back of the plain endor tail of the primary brake band.

The other end n of the segment is Jforked and a tangentially arranged adjustment rod o passes between the jaw of the fork, as well as through a lug p formed on the primary means of a foot pedal 59 and is fulcrummed about the knife edge r on the fixed casing.

Supported on the buss bar, by means of aV knife edge s is a strut t which in turn has pivotally mounted at its upper end byjmeans of a knife edge u, a thrust pad o which is extended to `i'orm a hooked end w having a knife edge connection w with a similarly vhooked endm ofthe segment Z. The hooked end w of the thrustl pad e is also pivotally connected by means of -a knife edge g/ to a nut a screwed onto the upper end of the pull rod h.-

rllhelmeans for turning the buss-bar g are clearly shown in Figures 6 and 7, according to which anv arm g extending from the bussbar--has pivotally mounted thereon'a strut '7 52 "which is connected at its upper end, by means' of a bal-l joint 53, to a lever arm 54 which is fixed to one end of a rod 55 rotatably mountedin the gearbox casing 56. The other end of the rod 55 extends throughV thegearl box casing 56 and has iixcdtheretoanother lever arm 57 which is connected bya link-rod 58rto-the pedal 59 pivoted at 60v to a fixed part of a frame (not shown). f'

When the pedal lever 59 ispushed down, i'

it swings about its pivot 60 and exerts a pull on theylink rod 58 which in turn rotates the 'rod 55 in a clockwisef direction V(Fig. 6)v

through the medium of lever arm57, this movement of the rod 55 being imparted to the other lever arm 54 pivotally connected to the strut 52. The clockwise movement of the lever arm 54 F ign-6, imparts a downward movement to the strut 52 'which latter, 4

through its pivotal connection with the bracket arm g, pushes the buss-bar Qy down into the positiony shown in kdotted lines in Figure l.

Upon releasingthe pressure on the pedal lever 59the buss-bar Q returns to its upper position under the action of the spring 61 upon a linger 62 acting on a member 63 pivotally supported by the buss bar on fthe side ot' its fulcrum opposite tothat on which the arm Q is arranged as described in the :speciicationof my prior U. S.y Patent application No. 403,100, and thus causes the strut 52 to move upwardly and imparta counter-clockwise movement to the lever arm 54,-. rod 55 Y and lever arm 57, 'thus' returning the pedal lever to its upper position. l e

As will be seen from Figure 6the'buss bar q extends alongthe full length of the gear box so as to be able to'actuate the-toggle mechanism of any of the gear groups 64.`

. shown in dotted lines. pad o is lifted away from the hooked end m crums u and y. At the IlhenA the brake is in the offvr position the pedal' is 'pressed down, system in the position shown in dotted lines (Fig. 1) In this position the buss bar g has been swung downwardly .about its fulcruin downward movement of thestrut t kcauses a turning movement clockwise direction, reason of' the second fulcrum y causes the pullrod 'h to be swung away from the brake element about its pivot g into the position of the ysegment Z, and the pressure exerted by the former on the latter, completely relieved. Engagement between thehooked `end of the ,A thrust pad f1) and the segment is still main- 20 tained however, since the brake element by reason of its own resiliency springs outwards away from the brake drum as withvits automatic adjusting mechanism, the position shown in dotted lines.

- In order to apply the brake, the foot pedal is released and the buss bar g allowed to rise into the upper position about its fulcrum 1' under the acti-on of spring 61. This upwardvmovement ofthe buss bar causes the strut tto be also pushed upwards, which latter in turn imparts a turning movement to the thrust padv fv, in a'l clockwisedirection, by reason of the relative position of the two fulsame time by reason of the relative position of the fulcrum g/the pull rod L is swung V'over element as' a result of which the segment Z is not only moved'circumferentiallytowards the anchored end of the primary `band `in a counter-'clockwise direction, but is also radi-- allyIapplied thus causing its movement to be imparted to both the primary and the secondbeen described for use in connection with 'reverse speed groups, it could 1f necessary fico ary brakev bands which are consequently tightenedl on the brake drum in a counterl clockwise direction., In this way owing to the anti-clockwise rotation of the drum, an effective lapping brake is thereby obtained.

` Further such construction of brake element permits of the actuating mechanism for both the forward and reverseyspeed groups being all positioned on the same side of their respective reaction drums.

-' It will be understood that although the brake element according to the invention has beequally well adapted ,for forward speed groups, in which case thel ordinary lapping vbrake as described in my patent hereinbefore referred to, would be used for the reverse speedgroups.

' Referring now to a second embodiment of my invention as illustrated in'Figures 2, 3

" v65 and 4 and inwhicha brakingv system as kdewith` the toggle lever to be imparted to the` thrust pad e about its fulcrum u, in a countere and at the same time byv Inthis way the thrust i soon as thev pressure 1s relleved', and takes up, together towards the brake the casing and yof a spring 28 attached to the casing and.

Vby, means of an adapted to provide an effective'flap braking vaction for eitherdirection of rotation of the brake drum, the primary brake band is'made in two halves 1 and 2 respectively, the lower h-alf 2 being' pivotally connected at 3y to one end of a link 4 the other end of which 'is firmly attached to--thecasing by means'ofl an eyebolt 5. This anchored end of the primary band is extended-to forma lug 6 whichis forked at its upper ceive the'correspondingly forked end 8 ofl brake band,

end 7 and adapted to re- -the upper half of the primary the two halves being thus pivotallyV or hingedly connected togetherfby means of a pin 9. In this way the two halves forming the primary brake band are provided with al commonanchorage, which is substantially at the centre K part of the said band.

In a similar manner the secondary brake band is formed-in two halves 10 and 11 each connected at their respective ends by means of lugs 12 and 13 to a common yoke 14 pivotally mounted at 15 to one end of a link 16 which in turn is fixed to the casing by means of an eye-bolt 17. Y

In this way the twohalves of the secondary" brake band have also'a. common anchorage disposed `at or near the centre partof the said band, the anchorage for the secondary bra-ke cev soy

band being disposed on the opposite side of the brake drum to that of the primary brake i bandv and displaced substantially at an of 180O thereto. l 4.

The free ends of the primaryband-fbrake are provided with slots 18"and`19` through whichV pass the lugs 12 and 13 forming the anchored ends of the two halves of the secondary being disposed on the same side of the brake drum as the anchorage for the two halves of the' primary brake band.

angle brake band, the free ends of Vthelatter.

icc"

The free end of the lower half 2 ofthe primary band is formed with alug 20 which is engagedl by the lhooked end 21 of a link 22 extending upwardly to the top of the casing where it is connected at 23 to one arm ofa two-armed lever 24, the other arm of which is connected at 25 to the primary brake band.

The vtwo armed lever 24 is connected atlthe non-moving point26 toA an arm 27 fixed to is further supported by means adapted to engage with the underside of a pin l 2 9 provide-d in the lever 24.

Two such link plates 22 are provided for 'each' brake drum which plates are positioned one behind the other on either side of the drum as viewed in Figure 3 andboth engage Y mechanism 23a which,however, partY of the present invention.

automatic brake adjustment does notpform v AThe toggle lever mechanism comprises a., buss bar 30which is operated by a Vcam 3l` and pivotally supports at one end by means of a knife edge '32 a strut 33 which in turn` supports at its upper end, by means of the knife edge 34 one end 35 of a' thrust pad 36 the other end 37 of which isk tapered and en vgages with a knife edge `connection 38 with `of their own resiliency.

thefree end 39 of the upper half of the pri` mary band. Finally, between the taperedl end 37 of the thrust pad and an arm 40 fixed to the upper lpart of the link plate 22 there is mounted on'knife edges 4l and 42 a strut 43..

In the Cif position of the brake element the toggle mechanism is in the position shown infull lines, with the buss bar down, and no pressure is being exertedy on Mthe brake bands which latter have sprung outwards away from the brake drum under the action In order to put the brake on7 the cam 3l is rotated so as to raise the buss bar into its` upper position, which movement causes the strut 33 to be pushed upwards, the latter imparting its upward movement to the end 35 of the thrust pad 3G, This upward movement of one end of the thrust pad causes the latter to be thrown over into the position shown in dotted lines, which movement forces the strut 43 to pivot about `its two fulcra--41 and 42 until it assumes an almostvertical position. ln this way the strut 43 is adapted tofeXert an upward' force upon the arm 40 as well as an equal downward force upon the 1 tapered end 3T of the thrust pad. rllh'e thrust pad in turn exerts pressure both ina radial and circumferential direction on the free end 39 of the upper half l of the primary band thus causing the latter to be tightened onto the brake drum against its anchorage 9 and vtovslide in a counter-clockwise direction over the upper half ofthe secondary brake band l0, this relative movement between Ythe two bands beingallowedfor by the slot 1S.

At the same., time the equal vupward force -i imparted by the strut 43 to the arm 40 is transp mitted to the link plates 22 which `are conselower half 2 of the primary brake band quently raised so that their hooked ends 21 exert a pressure on the free `end 20 of the also in a radial and circumferential direction. In. this way thezupward movement of the link plates 22 causes the lower half '2 of the primary brake kband to be-i'iightened onto the brake drum against its anchorage 3 in asim- -ilar manner to that of the upper half of said iY GO band, with this difference, that the lower half of the primary brake band slides over the lower half of the secondary brake band ina clockwise direction, a. slot i9 being provided in the free end of the primary brake bandv for this purpose.

The pressure exerted by the upper and lowerV halves of the prim-ary brake band is transmitted toutheir respective halves of the band being 1,915fzoc14 eort is transmitted through the lower. half' of the primary brake bandand the upper l half of the secondary brake band, whilst for counter-clockwise .rotation ofthe brake drinn the braking effort is obtained through the,l upper half of the primary brake band and the lower half of the secondary brake band.

. In this way, by the symmetrical arrangement of the bands, the braking effort is perfectly balanced, and a lapping brake pro# vided for either direction o-frotationof the vlllhilst the brake elementsforming the sub-V ject matter of this inventionhave been more particularly described for use in connection with the reaction drums of anepicyclic driv ing gear, it is to be understood that such.

brake elements could be equally well applied to any other mechanism, the speed of which has to, be controlled.

Also the toggle lever systems could. if nec-v essary bemoditicd in, respect of certain details to suitthe various applications ofthe brake elements without departing from thev tion, Va group` of braking elements for each rotary member, each group comprising a primary fleXible bandv disposed around said member and` a secondary flexibleV bandarranged between `said member and saidY primary band, means'for anchoring said flexible bands, the anchoring means for each primary disposed diametrically opposite I 9 5. l. A' flexible brake system comprising -a to they anchoring means for the associated secondary band, and'mechanism forv sub jecting-the primary bands oftheoppositely rotating members to upwardly and down-- wardly directed pressure respectively in order to contractfsaid primary bands and thereby draw 'said secondary bands into engagement withsaid member 2. In a flexible brake system according to claim l, means for controlling the pressure imparting mechanism associated with each primary band fromthe sameside of the rotary members. y

3. A iieXible brake system according to claim l, in which the'pressure imparting mechanism associated withf eachwprimary band has the form of toggle 'lever mechanism associated with controlling means adapted to be manipulatedrom one side lonly of the rotary members.

claim l, in which a -freeend of. each primary band provided with segment having a latter is extended to form a hook engagingl the hooked lend of said segment, and means for actuating said buss bar so as toraise and y lower said strut for the purpose described.

5. A flexible brake system comprising a number of rotary members,a group of braking elements for each rotary member, each group comprising a primary flexible band disposed around said membery and asecondary flexible band arranged between said member and said primary band, which primary and secondary bands `are each constructed in two parts, means for anchoring the parts of the flexible bands, the anchoring means for the parts of the primary band being disposed' diametrically opposite to the anchoring means for the parts of the associated secondary band, and mechanism for simultaneously subjecting the free ends of each pair of parts constituting a said primary band to upwardly and downwardly directed pressure respectively for the purpose described.

6. A flexible brake system according to claim 5, in which the pressure imparting mechanism associated with each primary band comprises a buss bar movable about a fixed fulcrum, a strut pivotally supported by said buss bar, a thrust pad pivotally mounted at one end on the upper extremity of said strut and operatively associated at the other end with both the free ends of-said.

primary band, and cam mechanism for actuating said buss bar.

mechanism associated with each primary band comprises in combination a buss bar movable about afixed fulcrum, ak strut pivotally supported by said buss bar, a thrust pad pivotally mounted at one end on the upper extremity of said strut and operatively associated at the otherend with both the free ends of said primary band, a secondary strut pivotally associated at one end with the free end of the half of said primary band, a fixed arm pivotally engaging the other end of said secondary strut, and cam mechanism for actuating said buss bar.

8. A flexible brake system according to claim 5, in which the pressureimparting mechanism associated with each primary band comprises in combination a buss bar movable about a fixed fulcrum, a strut pivot ally supported by said buss bar, a thrust pad pivotally mountedl at one end on the upper extremity of saidy strut and operatively associated. at the other endvwith both the free i ends of said primary band, a secondary strut pivotally associated at one end with the free end of one half of said primary band,`a fixed arm pivotally engaging the other end of said secondary strut, pivotal link plates carrying saidarm at oneend and being hooked at the other end so as to engage the free end' of the other half of said primary band, and cam mechanism for actuating said buss bar.

9. In a flexible brake system according to claim 5, slots formed in the free ends of the respective parts ofthe primary bands so as to permit their relative movement in relation to the anchored ends of the secondary bands.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.v

WALTER GORDON WILSON. 

